Senate Democrats ready to present their version of budget

New Hampshire’s Senate Democrats said Friday they’ve crafted a $13 billion, two-year state budget that responsibly addresses the public’s most pressing concerns, while Republicans called the plan reckless and irresponsible.

The proposal endorsed Friday by a majority of the Senate Finance Committee spends about the same amount in state general funds – $5.5 billion – as the budget passed by the House in April, but differs in several key areas. While both significantly increase education funding, in part by restoring so-called “stabilization grants,” the House budget would spend about $60 million more, paid for by extending the tax on capital gains. The Senate meanwhile, eliminated that tax and wants to send more unrestricted money back to towns and cities in the form of revenue sharing, $40 million compared to the House’s $12.5 million.

“The plans – they’re close, but I think we did more,” said Sen. Lou D’Allesandro, D-Manchester. He said the Senate had the benefit of working with updated revenue estimates and is counting on additional revenue from increasing taxes on out-of-state corporations doing business in the state.

“When you look at the thing in totality, I think we both tried to get to the same place, but we just used a different source, because we had better information than they did.”

Read more: https://www.concordmonitor.com/Senate-Democrats-ready-to-present-their-version-of-budget-25949764